A Single Crimson Rose
by jennimiley
Summary: A one shot story about the special bond between a mother and son and the heartache of losing him during the war.


**_Disclaimer: _I don't own the characters or the song. Just a plot bunny I wrote out years ago waiting for book five to come out. It was originally about Ron but I changed it to Fred. You'll understand when you read the story. It's been edited to fit with the books. If anyone is interested the song is called "A Single Crimson Rose" and it's by Amie Comeaux from Louisiana. She died in a tragic car accident at the age of 21. **

**Just a little something in between working on my other story. I'm having a bit of writer's block so here's a one shot for everyone. Enjoy! **

A Single Crimson Rose

_A little boy not much more than a baby  
Found a rose and picked it like a child would do  
Proudly he went running to his mommy  
And with a grin he said, "Look what me find for you"_

Molly sighed and rubbed her aching back; those twins would be the death of her yet. Not even Bill and Charlie caused so much ruckus growing up. She was outside hanging up the wash for the third time that day. How two year olds ever managed to catch garden gnomes was beyond her. How they managed to undo the clothes line to get the clothes and try and dress the gnomes was even more curious. Molly hauled the clothes basket to the house and began putting more clothes to wash, hoping that she could manage a quiet break before the terrible twosome woke from their nap. When she finished she collapsed in Arthur's favorite chair and closed her eyes for a moment resting her hand on her stomach and feeling the kicks of the little one inside of her. She hoped this one would have Percy's quiet temperament.

Several minutes later Molly opened to her eyes to see one of the twins running at her and grinning broadly. "Mommy! Mommy! Look what me find for you!"

He ran as fast as his toddler legs could carry him but stumbled and fell. Molly stood and got to Fred just as the tears began to fall. He was holding what appeared to be a red rose from one of her bushes and from the looks of the petals it had already begun to wilt before he picked it. Molly plopped herself next to her son and scooped him into her arms. She was looking over his arms and legs for any scrapes and not seeing any asked, "Are you ok Freddie?"

She felt her heart break as he began to shake his little tear streaked face back and forth, "I broke you present."

Holding him in her lap she gently wiped his tears away, "It's a very pretty present. How did you know I liked red flowers?"

She watched him holding a few of the wilting petals in his small fingers and he shrugged. Still obviously upset over the he sniffed and held the remains of the rose, "I broke it."

Taking one of the petals from Fred she held it to her nose, "It's not broken. It still smells good." She took the petal and put it to Fred's nose, "Your turn, you smell it."

Fred looked at Molly with uncertain eyes but leaned forward and took a small whiff. She watched as his eyes got big and took the petal from her. He held it to his nose and breathed in deeply. "See," she said. "I told you it's not broken."

"Now," Molly said, "If you help Mommy up from the floor, I have a very special place I'm going to put this present you gave to me. OK?"

Fred nodded and scooted from Molly's lap and held her hand as she pulled herself from the floor. She took Fred's hand and led him to the kitchen. He watched as she pulled a small jar from one of the cabinets and placed what was left of the rose petals in it. She winked at him and took her wand and sat next to him at the table. "Now, this is the really special part and I'm going to need your help ok?"

Fred nodded and looked serious as he waited for Molly's instructions. She took his hand and placed it in hers, both of them holding her wand. She murmured a simple preservation spell to keep the petals and the smell from never diminishing and put a lid on the jar. Fred looked at her and held his hands out, "Now what mommy?"

Molly grinned, "Now, every time I want to smell your present, all I have to do is open this jar." She opened the jar and held it out to Fred. He leaned forward and grinned as he stuck his nose to the jar, the faint smell of roses tickling his nose. She placed the jar in the middle of the table and hugged him, "Are you all better now?"

Fred smiled and nodded vigorously. He scrambled out of the chair and ran out the door yelling for George. Molly grinned and stood up to begin her cooking. Before she could take two steps she felt a pair of arms wrap around her legs. Looking down she looked into Fred's grinning face, "I lub you mommy." She watched as he ran through the door again, "I love you too Freddie," she whispered to his retreating back.

_A teenage boy packed groceries at the market  
A rebel kid sometimes a little wild  
But every year on Mother's Day and birthdays  
He'd bring her a rose just like that little child_

Molly rubbed her temples, "You left Hogwarts?"

"Well, yea mum," George began. "I mean Umbridge was a right old toad and we already know what we're gonna do."

"Exactly," Fred piped in. "And we don't need OWLs or NEWTs to sell our things."

Molly's face turned purple, "SELL YOUR THINGS?" She moved closer to the twins, pointing her wand back and forth at them. "Are you telling me after the trouble you've caused you are still making that rubbish?"

"It's not rubbish mum." George scowled.

"And besides," Fred started, "we've already bought our own place and we're gonna sell them anyway."

Molly became livid, "YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Fred shrugged, "Too late. We already did."

The next few minutes was yelling and arguing that didn't end until the twins left. Only this time they didn't go to their rooms, they left for their new place. Molly slammed cabinets and threw utensils around in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, muttering under her breath the entire time. Even when Arthur came home and told her he would try to talk some sense into the boys, it didn't help.

Over the next couple of days whenever the twins would stop by to visit, Molly would busy herself about the house and only talked if they directly asked her something.

Molly was scrubbing away in one of the dirty rooms upstairs when she heard a noise and Mrs. Black's portrait shrieking. With a sigh, she pulled out her wand and closed the curtains at the portrait and turned to find Fred picking up the umbrella stand that Tonks normally trips over. He turned a bright crimson, "Sorry, I was trying to surprise you."

Molly glared at him, "Well, you managed that by making enough noise to wake that wretched portrait again."

Fred grimaced, "I said I'm sorry." He paused, "Anyway, I just came to bring you this." He shoved a rose into Molly's hand and turned to leave. He reached the door and looked over his shoulder with a sad sort of smile, "Happy Mother's Day, mum."

Before Fred could open the door, Molly pulled him into her arms. "Thank you Freddie."

"Aw, mum don't cry." He squirmed as he heard Molly sniff rather loudly still holding her son in her arms. "Look," he began, "I know it's not much but I promise this isn't the only thing George and I got for you."

Molly pulled back and held Fred at arm's length, "I don't need anything from the two of you. That money you make from selling that rubbish is not for you to be spending on me."

Fred grinned, "Nonsense! That rubbish is going to buy you the finest house in all the world. You wait and see."

Now it was Molly's turn to grin, "I don't need a fine house, or pretty things. I just want my boys happy and safe."

"Well now let's see," Fred started, "If you want me happy then when all this is over, you are going to let me buy you the best of everything. I mean, honestly, it's not every mum who could put up with the likes of me and George and live to tell about it."

Molly pulled Fred into another hug, "Oh, be gone with you. And tell that brother of yours I expect both of you here for dinner."

This time when Fred reached the door he turned to her, "Love you mum."

Molly smiled, holding the rose to her chest, "Love you too Freddie," she whispered as he headed off. She breathed in the sweet smell of her rose and placed it in a small jar of water in the middle of the table, next to another small jar filled with petals she had saved over the years.

_A single crimson rose  
In time became a symbol of  
Endless love shared between  
A mother and her son  
A single crimson rose  
Was a special way to say  
I'll always love you come what may  
A single crimson rose_

At eighteen, he enlisted in the army  
To fight a war he felt needed to be won  
Sometimes he'd write on Mother's Days and birthdays  
He never failed to send a rose to mom

Molly was in a right state. Ron had disappeared with Harry and Hermione, Ginny was back at Hogwarts, Percy was estranged from the family, Bill and Arthur were in the thick of things at the Ministry, Charlie was up to his ears with his work, and the twins were….well, they were the twins. The twins went into hiding and were broadcasting in late evenings under false names. It was a test of her sanity that she even allowed herself to listen in, if only to hear their voices. And all of this was because of You-Know-Who. She cursed his name for ripping her family apart and for the senseless killings and tortures that took place on a daily basis.

She sat holding a small jar in her hands as she waited for the next broadcast to begin. She didn't even know how it had come to this. She felt torn as she thought about her family scattered in different directions because of the evil that had erupted.

Molly was blinking back the tears as she rocked back and forth in the old worn chair she was sitting in. She had hoped her children would never have to live through this kind of fear. She was so lost without her children. What she wouldn't give to have the twins blowing up something right now if it meant that she could see them again, to hear Ron and Ginny arguing senselessly over chores, to be able to fuss because Bill's hair was too long, anything to have them with her at this moment. She stopped rocking as she heard a familiar voice on the wireless. Molly held her breath as she listened to her sons, and their friend Lee Jordan talk about the people who were missing, those who died in the war already, and giving encouragement to those who were still in hiding.

Twenty minutes after the program ended, Molly still refused to turn off the wireless. She sat there hoping to hear her sons one more time before she began her relentless waiting for Arthur to come home. It was only several minutes before she heard his voice and asked him the question she knew he must answer before she could let him in.

She opened the door and he came in with a curious look on his face. "This was outside on the front step."

Molly looked and saw him holding a rose with a small paper attached to it. Her hands shaking, Molly unfolded the scrap of paper and saw a hastily scribbled message.

_Happy birthday, I love you mum._

_Freddie_

Molly felt Arthur's arms around her as she began to sob. She was so proud of her children, but Merlin she wished they were still with her.

That soldier now is coming home a hero  
With his medals to the mother that he loves  
With tear-filled eyes, she tells him how she's missed him  
And on his casket lays a single crimson rose

Molly watched silently as George and Percy carried Fred's body to her. "He's just unconscious," She was telling Arthur. "Once we clean him up he'll be okay." But in her heart of hearts she knew that wasn't the case. She felt her breath catch as George gently laid Fred on the cold floor, cradling his head in his lap. She knelt next to George and began wiping the grime from Fred's face, "It's going to be ok Freddie," her voice hitched as she spoke to her lifeless son. "It's all over now."

Molly fell forward clutching her son's body, the sobs coursing through her. As she cried she remembered Fred, two years old bringing her a wilted rose. She heard his voice as he leaned out of the Hogwarts Express next to George promising Ginny a toilet seat. She saw her boys flying their brooms and teaching Ginny how to play Quidditch. She saw Fred's face, sick with worry when George lost his ear.

Molly sat up and tried to wipe the dirt from Fred's face once again. She felt Arthur's arms around her and leaned into him, not taking her hand from Fred's face. She was vaguely aware of her other children gathering around, each of them just as racked with grief as she was. She wasn't sure who finally took Fred away, only that she couldn't bear to let him go. She felt more arms around her, maybe Arthur, maybe Bill or Charlie, she didn't know. Someone handed her something to drink and she slipped into a blissful sort of unawareness.

The day was absolutely beautiful, and it would have been perfect if she wasn't burying one of her children. It was a crisp spring day where the sky was so blue it was almost unreal. The grass was coming up green and spongy all around. Yes, it would have been a beautiful day if Fred were here to see it.

Molly had long given up trying not to cry and she didn't care who saw. She clutched George's hand as she walked up to Fred's casket. The two of them had been leaning on each other for support and now she felt her knees wobble. George wrapped his arms around her as she took the rose she was holding and laid it on his casket. She let George lead her back to her seat but not before she turned around and whispered, "I love you Freddie."

A single crimson rose  
In time became a symbol of  
Endless love shared between  
A mother and her son  
A single crimson rose  
Was a special way to say  
I'll always love you come what may  
A single crimson rose

A single crimson rose  
Was a special way to say  
I'll always love you come what may  
A single crimson rose

Molly sighed as she hung the laundry out to dry. Why on earth did she ever agree to babysit for George and Angelina was beyond her. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that none of her other grandchildren were this rambunctious. Not for the third time did she have to stop little Fred from chasing garden gnomes through the mud puddles in the yard. She managed to finally catch the little rascal and clean him up and put him down for a nap.

Molly stopped and caught her breath as a little redhead toddled from behind the house with a grin. "Grandmommy! Look what me find!"

It was as if she was transported back almost twenty years ago as she watched Little Fred running and stumble onto his knees, tears streaming down his face as he held out a crumpled rose, "I broke you present grandmommy."

Molly picked him up and brought him to the kitchen and placed him on the same chair she had put her little Freddie on so many years ago. She held one of the petals and put it to her nose. "It's not broken. It still smells very pretty." She held the petal and watched as he leaned forward to smell. She saw him grin, and just as she did all those years ago she placed the petals in a small jar and held his hand in hers. Together they waved her wand as she murmured a preservation jar to keep the petals and the smell forever. And after his tears had been wiped away she stood up to place the jar next to another similar jar in the middle of her table. She turned as the door banged and a small pair of arms wrapped around her legs, "I lub you grandmommy!"

Fighting back the tears she whispered, "I love you too Freddie!"

A little boy not much more than a baby  
Found a rose and picked it like a child would do


End file.
